• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Three Dead Power Supplies!

D

DevonTT

n00b
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
20
When the power starting going out unexpectedly on my four-year-old computer, I suspected a bad power supply and replaced it. Everything worked fine for about a month, then the same symptoms reappeared.

So I took the replacement power supply back and put in a third one. It worked for about a day, and now the computer won't boot up at all. There's power to the monitor, so I know juice is getting through.

My system is usually plugged into a battery backup. Would a bad UPS cause power supplies to fail over time? (I've got the computer plugged into a different surge protector now, and it still won't boot up.)

What other things might cause complete power failure besides a wonky power supply?

I'm tearing my hair out here. Thanks for your help!
 
They're cheapos--300W Enhance. This old computer is only running a 1Ghz Athlon chip and not much in the way of peripherals.

You'd think even a cheap power supply would last longer than a month or a day, wouldn''t you? :confused:
 
never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever get a cheap power supply, no matter how low end the system is, always get a named brand (ocz, antec, pcp&C etc.) because if it dies with all your system parts, then it will be very expensive. also the good ones create better system stabiltiy.
get an antec 330w or something.
 
DevonTT said:
When the power starting going out unexpectedly on my four-year-old computer, I suspected a bad power supply and replaced it. Everything worked fine for about a month, then the same symptoms reappeared.

So I took the replacement power supply back and put in a third one. It worked for about a day, and now the computer won't boot up at all. There's power to the monitor, so I know juice is getting through.

My system is usually plugged into a battery backup. Would a bad UPS cause power supplies to fail over time? (I've got the computer plugged into a different surge protector now, and it still won't boot up.)

What other things might cause complete power failure besides a wonky power supply?

I'm tearing my hair out here. Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...


Shorting out capacitors on your mainboard can do that too...

MD
 
MD_Willington said:
Shorting out capacitors on your mainboard can do that too...

MD
Click to expand...
Yep, check the capacitors on your motherboard. Make sure they are not bulging or leaking.
 
MD_Willington said:
Shorting out capacitors on your mainboard can do that too...

MD
Click to expand...


But, why would it work for a month on the second PSU then stop? Try a namebrand psu to rule out the psu as the cause first. If you have a spare mobo try it aswell. Although, look over the motherboard for any noticeable damage aswell.
 
GlobalFear said:
But, why would it work for a month on the second PSU then stop? Try a namebrand psu to rule out the psu as the cause first. If you have a spare mobo try it aswell. Although, look over the motherboard for any noticeable damage aswell.
Click to expand...
All he needs to do to check the capacitors is to look at the motherboard. I'd rather spend 20 seconds inspecting the motherboard first to rule out bad caps. This motherboard is from the era of the capacitor fiasco that caused nearly every Taiwanese motherboard to fail.
 
Thanks for the info, guys. (BTW, I'm of the female persuasion... :D)

How do I recognize a bad capacitor by sight?
 
slowbiznatch said:
All he needs to do to check the capacitors is to look at the motherboard. I'd rather spend 20 seconds inspecting the motherboard first to rule out bad caps. This motherboard is from the era of the capacitor fiasco that caused nearly every Taiwanese motherboard to fail.
Click to expand...


Which is why I suggested looking over the board for noticable damage. If there is not NOTICABLE damage replace the psu with a name brand one. If that doesn't work it is time for a new motherboard.
 
GlobalFear said:
But, why would it work for a month on the second PSU then stop? Try a namebrand psu to rule out the psu as the cause first. If you have a spare mobo try it aswell. Although, look over the motherboard for any noticeable damage aswell.
Click to expand...

My IBM netvista was hit or miss like that too, replaced 3 caps on the bitch and it will run 24/7 om the first push of the PSU switch..

MD
 
DevonTT said:
Thanks for the info, guys. (BTW, I'm of the female persuasion... :D)

How do I recognize a bad capacitor by sight?
Click to expand...


bad2.jpg


bad1.jpg
 
The Netvista uses an Intel "Whitney" brand mainboard, same thing as the gateway "brooking" boards you see all over Ebay...MSI made them OEM for Intel and Gateway.

No, the Caps I displayed were not from the Netvista, they were only slightly bulged but were covered in that brown crud.

You can see them all over the forums at www.badcaps.net

MD

PS

DevonTT

I apologize for the language in front of a lady...

I was taught better than that when younger!!
 
Well, I broke down and took the box in to a repair shop. The capacitors looked OK to the naked eye, but we'll see what they say after diagnosing the issue.

If I have to replace the motherboard, I'll upgrade in the process. What would you guys recommend in terms of motherboard/processor/RAM that would give me at least a gig of memory and cost $500 or less? The shop guys are recommending an Athlon XP 3200, which they say is as fast as a Pentium 4 3.2GHz, even though it's rated at 2.2GHz.

Your thoughts?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top